Monday, February 07, 2011

Multiculturalism Destroys Free Society, Cultures Terrorists

British Prime Minister David Cameron has lashed out at multiculturalism . . . implores the West to confront extremism now.

Nationalist politician Geert Wilders has claimed that he is being persecuted for his political views. The Dutch populist, who likens Islam to fascism, is charged with inciting hatred towards Muslims and others.

Cameron said last weekend [click here to read entire speech] that letting different cultural groups -- especially Muslims -- exist in separate communities divides the nation and is not only wrong but dangerous.

Cameron's concern is that separatism allows young people to be lured into extremism, saying "the biggest threat that we face comes from terrorist attacks, some of which are, sadly, carried out by our own citizens."

"Islamic extremists have exploited this doctrine [of multiculturalism] to advance their own anti-British agenda," explains Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation

To maintain separate communities where a minority of young Muslims could be seduced by those preaching radicalism and drawn to violence such as the bombings in the London Underground that killed more than 50 in 2005 is dangerous Gardiner and Cameron agree.

In a major speech on tackling the threat of terrorism, the Prime Minister warned that the "hands-off tolerance" of unacceptable practices by non-white communities had only served to encourage extremism.

"Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism," the Prime Minister said.

While a "passively tolerant" society allowed its citizens to do what they like, so long as they do not break the law, a genuinely liberal country "believes in certain values and actively promotes them," Mr Cameron said.

The anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders appeared in court in Amsterdam on Monday on charges of inciting hatred towards Muslims, Moroccans and other non-Western groups in the Netherlands.

Wilders, one of the most powerful men in the Dutch parliament, told a panel of judges that he thinks he's the victim of political persecution, saying they must drop the charges against him in order to protect free speech.

"Citizens who criticize Islam pay a bitter price. They are threatened, persecuted and criminalized," Wilders told judges at a hearing that was meant to decide how the case would continue.

"The lights are going out all over Europe, and it's because of Islam," Wilders told the packed courtroom. "There are no Islamic Mozarts or Bill Gates because they can't exist where there is no creative freedom. An ideology that comes from the desert can only create a desert."

The judges are due to decide on how the case should proceed next week.